The private sector arm of the World Bank is facing claims that it contributes to global heating and the undermining of animal welfare by providing financial support for factory farming, including the building of pig farming tower blocks in China. A coalition of environmental and animal welfare groups is calling on the World Bank to phase out financial support for large-scale “industrial” livestock operations. More than $1.6bn was provided for industrial farming projects between 2017 and 2023, according to an analysis by campaigners. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of…
Tag: Animal welfare
‘We keep pets and eat livestock, why not this?’: China’s defiant fur farmers
“Now it’s a bad time to get into the fur business,” says a farm worker in Hebei province, northern China. The worker, who has been farming foxes for more than 30 years, says they have stopped after operating at a loss for several years in a row. China is the world’s biggest producer of animal fur, but here in Suning county, its “capital of fur”, business appears quiet. “The whole industry chain – raw fur and garment production – is struggling,” says the farm worker. An average of more than…
Chinese police stop lorry carrying 386 dogs to slaughter at canine-meat festival – video
Chinese police pulled over a lorry carrying 386 dogs to slaughter at the annual dog-meat festival in the southern Chinese city of Yulin, which was scheduled to start on Tuesday – the summer solstice. Lin Xiong, one of the activists who watched the vehicle being pulled over, said: ‘It was horrifying to see so many dogs in such an appalling state, it was like a truck from hell for these poor animals.’ In 2020, China’s ministry for agriculture and rural affairs ruled that dogs were companion animals, not ‘livestock’ for…